Okay so the other day I had a dream that my younger brother and I were jumping off one side of a cliff to get to the other side, and when my brother made it safely to the other side I was upset (not because I wanted my little brother to die:p) because I wanted the dream to be more interesting so I thought, how about he falls off the cliff then all of a sudden the edge of the cliff he was standing on started to crumble and he fell. And then later when a sea lion was about to attack us I thought, he's a nice sea lion, so then the sea lion was happy and wanted to play fetch. In my dream I never realized that I was dreaming but I could control parts of it, was this a lucid dream?

Sounds to me like it was a non-lucid dream. Sorry, it happens to all of us, we dream of lucid dreaming. It really sucks, because it's s tantalizing. I actually one had an inception-like dream where I actually was lucid dreaming in a dream in my dream... Strange indeed.

"I wandered home though the silent streets And fell into a fitful sleep Escape to realms beyond the night Dream can't you show me the light? "~2112

sophiavaccaro wrote:In my dream I never realized that I was dreaming...

That's the key. In order for the dream to be lucid, you have to know you are dreaming. It doesn't have anything to do with control. Actually, we are always controlling everything in our dreams, we just aren't aware of it.

Have you ever had a dream, Neo, that you were so sure was real? What if you were unable to wake from that dream? How would you know the difference between the dream world and the real world? Morpheus

I get these type of dreams sometimes. I control it like a director and think things should happen a certain way. I will even stop it, reverse it, and do it again if it didn't go my way. At some level, I knew it was a dream, but then again, I know movies aren't real either, but can be caught up in the moment and so enthralled it becomes my only world as I am watching. In this case, I was like a director and was almost like a 'choose your own adventure'. I think they are almost lucid.

When this happens I sort of know I'm dreaming, but I'm only watching my own movie and not being a participant in it . Hold everything and ask yourself, "Who am I again? Oh yea! There's no plot and all this is a dream, and I can explore and do what I want". Then I'm lucid dreaming. (Then I look away from the movie screen, so to speak and realize who I am, sitting in a chair only watching, and there's no need to fully direct any plot at all, and can leave and go outside and fly and raid the concession stand!.... so to speak. It's just an analogy. )

I think you were more lucid than most dreams, and enjoy it for what it is. But as most people would define a lucid dream, it's almost there, but not quite.

This shouldn't be discouraging, it happens to me all the time! It comes with the territory and you may become more lucid next time.Just ignore the plot and realize your own identity and that, in my opinion, is the key difference.

Even though you could control parts of the dream, you didn't think nothing of it and were unaware of dreaming. Therefore, it was an ordinary non-lucid dream.

Lucid dreaming is not about control as many mistakenly believe. (To be lucid, however, does increase your chances of control.) You can be lucid dreaming and not have any control whatsoever. You can also be lucid dreaming amd still feel compelled to deal with unfinished dream business. You can also experience fear while lucid dreaming - like when you are being persued by a monster, and, despite realising that you are dreaming, you continue to run. The irrational fear is still there and you can't explain it - it's a very primordial instinct.

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"Empty cognizance of one taste, suffused with knowing, is your unmistaken nature, the uncontrived original state. when not altering what is, allow it to be as it is, and the awakened state is right now spontaneously present."

Great dream! I loved the way you tamed you sea monster and played with him like a puppy dog! Changing the landscape of the dream is exciting. It mirrors how you dealt with the sea monster, you made it playful and this is very cool. Being on a cliff edge is very symbolic...it's like your unconscious offered you another option (and the part of you that represents your brother) Do you really want to just get to the other side...(boring) or do you want to mess things up a bit as the adventure surely lies in the games we play (just like real life!) I would also say that by engaging with this dream in the way you did, and by looking back on it and exploring it a little, you may well emerge into lucidity at some point. Who knows, maybe the cliff represented being on the edge of lucidity?

"Empty cognizance of one taste, suffused with knowing, is your unmistaken nature, the uncontrived original state. when not altering what is, allow it to be as it is, and the awakened state is right now spontaneously present."